The Independent National Electoral Commission has rolled out plans to conduct elections in six states. The commission was prevented from conducting elections in these states during the 2011 general elections by a court ruling after it had claimed that the tenure of the governors in question should have ended on May, 29 2011 in spite of the fact that their 2007 elections into office had been annulled and they had to face re-election.
INEC has now come to terms with the court ruling which determined when the tenure of each of the governors is to end. INEC is to hold governorship election in Kogi State on December 3 where the tenure of the Governor Ibrahim Idris will end on April 4, 2012. According to the commission’s timetable, the governorship election in Adamawa will hold on January 14, 2012 and the four years of Murtala Nyako will end on April 30, 2012. In Bayelsa, the election will hold February 11, 2012 and the tenure of Timipre Silva ends on May 27, 2012.
The Sokoto election is slated for March 10, 2012 while Aliyu Wammako’s tenure ends on May 28, 2012. The Cross River, will hold on April 14, 2012 and Liyel Imoke’s tenure ends on August 27, 2012. The sixth, Edo, will have the election held on July 14, 2012 in anticipation of the end of Adams Oshiomhole’s tenure which is on November 12, 2012.
INEC Commissioner for Information, Solomon Soyebi, who recently defended the timetable set by the commission for the six states said, “By the provision of section 178 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, an election to the office of governor of a state shall be held on a date not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office. The commission is by section 30 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), expected to issue notice for the elections not later than 90 days before the date of the elections.” He also said that governorship elections will hold in Ondo and Ekiti States in 2013 and in Anambra and Osun in 2014.
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